Surgeons & GPs

Information for GPs and Surgeons

Do patients need a referral?

In Australia, physiotherapists are first-contact practitioners, so a formal referral isn't required for a patient to be seen. That said, even a brief referral helps enormously - it gives us the clinical context to start treatment safely and avoids duplicating investigations you've already done.

A referral becomes essential in a few situations: when the patient is claiming under a Chronic Disease Management (CDM) plan, DVA, workers' compensation, or a CTP/motor accident scheme, and whenever you want us to work to a specific post-operative protocol.

What to include in a referral

The most useful referrals are short but specific. Where relevant, please include the working or confirmed diagnosis and the body region involved, relevant history and comorbidities (diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiac conditions, and so on), any imaging or investigation findings, and any precautions or contraindications we need to observe. A note on what you'd like us to achieve and any timeframe is also useful, along with current medications that affect pain or activity.

Chronic Disease Management (CDM) referrals

For patients with a chronic condition managed under a GP Management Plan and Team Care Arrangements, a CDM referral allows up to five Medicare-rebated allied health sessions per calendar year, shared across all allied health providers the patient sees. Please note the number of sessions allocated to physiotherapy on the referral form. Where a patient is likely to need care beyond the rebated sessions, we'll flag it early so you can plan the rest of their allocation.

Post-operative and orthopaedic referrals

For post-surgical patients, the single most helpful thing you can provide is the rehabilitation protocol or your preferred parameters - particularly weight-bearing status and any range-of-motion limits, bracing or immobilisation requirements and the timeline for progressing them, movements or loads to avoid and for how long, wound or healing considerations, and any milestones you want reached before the next review.

If you have a standard protocol for a given procedure, sending it to us once means we can apply it consistently for every patient you refer.

What you'll receive back from us

We send an initial letter after assessment outlining our findings and planned management, and a further update at discharge or if the clinical picture changes - for example, if we identify a red flag, the patient isn't progressing as expected, or we think a review or further investigation is warranted. If you'd prefer a particular format or frequency of correspondence, let us know and we'll match it.

Red flags and when to contact us

If a patient reports symptoms that suggest something outside our scope - an unexplained neurological deficit, signs of infection, a suspected fracture, or systemic illness - we'll pause treatment and refer back to you promptly. You're also welcome to call us directly to discuss a patient before or during their care.

How to refer

Sydney Orthopaedic Physiotherapy (SOP) accepts referrals by fax or email. Please include your provider number so we can direct correspondence back to you.